Sean O'Brien is a detective with the Boston Police Department. He's the kind of guy to whom success comes easily and often, either due to his luck or his charm or his talents — all of which he seems to have in spades. Born to a hardworking couple and raised in rural Pennsylvania, he was a bright kid who was more naturally intelligent than book smart, but did well enough to get by. He was always in the popular clique, cocky and not very nice to those he felt were inferior to he and his friends — which was quite a few. In sports, he was very talented, an excellent baseball pitcher who hoped one day to go professional. As the star pitcher at Penn State, however, a line drive shattered his throwing hand and any dream of going into the major leagues.

Bitter at the loss of what was sure to be a stellar pro career, Sean shifted focus and turned to law enforcement. While at Penn State, he met Yvette Moore, a liberal-studies major hoping to be a teacher. Yvette was sweet natured, a little shy and unsure of herself and the attention the college boys were giving her, since she was a late bloomer and a tall and awkward girl in high school — exactly the sort of girl Sean would have mocked, if they had been classmates back then. Now, she found herself easily enthralled by his charm. Her shyness and self-consciousness fed his ego, and soon the two were inseparable — everyone.s favorite pair, the 'it couple' that everyone felt were sure to be together forever.

After graduation in 2005, Yvette was the first to get a job near her parents. home in Philadelphia, but before she could start, Sean got a job with the Boston Police Department. Rather than be separated, Sean convinced her to give up her job to move with him. Unable to find a job before the start of the school year, she became a 'stay at home' girlfriend, and soon enough, their routine was set. Away from home, friends, and family, he was the only person she knew in the new city — which was just fine in Sean's eyes. Some part of him felt that if she had a real life of her own, she wouldn't choose to be with him. After all, he was no one — he certainly wasn't the star he thought he would be — he should be starting his career in the pros, and instead, he was a lowly cop.

After a particularly bad day at work, he hit her for the first time. Yvette had gone out without leaving a note, and he sat at home worrying where she was. When she came home, they had their first argument — she raised her voice to him for the first time in the time he'd known her, and his hand struck out, backhanding her. When she crumpled, crying, her nose a bleeding mess, Sean promised he would never do it again, that he loved her and that it would be all right. She stayed.

He didn't keep his promise. Soon, it took less and less for him to become angry, even as work improved — he passed his detective's test and was moving up the ranks. She, however, had nothing to do unless he chose to bring her out with his friends and their wives or girlfriends. The injuries were never bad enough to need medical attention, and soon enough he learned to hurt her where no one could see the bruises. If he slipped up, well, she didn't leave the house for a few days or wore long sleeves.

Five years passed — the two were still only live-in boyfriend and girlfriend, their families starting to pressure them to get married. Sean decided to treat Yvette to a week in New York City to pop the question. He didn't tell anyone he was going. The week was magical — Broadway shows, romantic rides in horse-drawn carriages, seeing the city lights from the Empire State Building. On their last afternoon there, Sean took Yvette for a walk in Central Park, finding a remote and romantic spot just at sunset to get on one knee and ask her to be his wife.

But something had changed for Yvette. She had been watching small children playing in the park with their parents, and she realized that she didn't want to have a family with this man who inflicted pain on her regularly. She said no — for the first time, she denied what Sean wanted.

Sean snapped. No one was around to hear Yvette's cries as he began to beat her and then choke her, shaking her as he demanded she listen to him, that she was meant for him. A sudden noise scared Sean, and he flung her away. She hit her head hard on the wrought-iron bench, collapsing unconscious from the lack of oxygen and the trauma to her head.

He fled, certain she was dead. He checked out of the hotel as planned the next morning, and returned to his life in Boston. His story was that she had moved out the week before — when anyone noticed she was missing, which wasn't for a couple of weeks since she only spoke to her family and former friends rarely. By the time any missing persons reports were filed, the Jane Doe in the hospital in New York City was already gone, declared brain dead, life support pulled.